Kneading and mixing machine.



No. 738,663.1' PATBNTED SEPT. a, 1903.

I o. GRISI'ADONO.

KNBADINGv AND MIXING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 20, 1902.

N0 MOIDIl-IL.V 3 SEEETS-SHEET 2.

No. veaee.

UNIT-@Q --isatented eptember 8, 19035 PATENT EEICE.

CHARLES cnisrAnonO, OF sr. PAL, M INNEsO'rA, AssieNoR TO rrl-IEWHIRLPOOL-MIXER AND KNEADER COMPANY, OE SENECA FALLS,

NEw YORK.

KNEADINC AND MIXING MACHINE.

SPECIFICA TION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 738,663, datedSeptember 8, 1903. Application iled December 20,1902. Serial No.135,948. (No model.)

To all whom it mag/concern: I

` Be it known that I, CHARLES CRISTADOEO, a citizen of` the UnitedStates, residing at St. Paul, in thecounty of Ramsey and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain* new and useful Improvements inKneadingand Mixing Machines,of which the following is a specication. 1 yI I I I My inventionrelates to improvements in kneading and mixingmachiuesadaptedespecially for mixing and kneading substances,

` of a plastic nature or in aplastic condition, I such as dough, its"object" being to provide a machine wherein the material or materialsshall be thoroughly mixed,compressed,knead To this end my inventionconsists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a top View of the machine with the cover removed. Fig. 2 is anendelevation of the same looking toward the gear end with thedrive-pulley omitted. Fig. 3 is a similar end view omitting the gearsand drive-pulley, and Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken online a:

I 0f Fig. L

In the drawings, A represents a receptacle or trough supported upon legs2. The bottom 3 and sides 4 of the trough are formed, preferably, withlongitudinal corrugations upon the inside and merge into each other atthe corners in a concave curve to form what maybe termed for convenienceof description a generally U-shaped bottom. Within the trough and nearthe bottom thereof are a pair of oppositely-working andlongitudinally-corrugated kneading-rollers 5 and 5, mounted upon shafts6 ande, respectively. These rollers are arranged side by side and are sopositioned with1'espect to each other andto the curved portion's'of theU-shaped I bottom as to insurekneading cooperation not only between therollers," but also between each roller and the adjacent bottom and sideportions. In order that the spaces between I the rollers and betweeneach roller and the adjacent side of the trough may be accommodated inwid th to the character and thickness of the material to be kneaded, therollerdrawings, they are journaled-iu bearingblo'cks 7 and 7a, slidinglysupported between guides 8 and 9 upon the ends 10 of the receptacle. Thebearing-blocks are adjustable in position relatively to one another bymeans of screws 1l, threaded through the bars 12 at the ends Of theguides and bearing against the plates 13, which are also slidable in theguides Sand 9. IThe kneading-rollers 5 and 5a may be heldelasticallyagainst the spreading pressure of the material carriedbetween them by spring means or other elastic instrumentality, such asthe rubber cushion 14, (shown in the drawings,) interposed between eachof the bearing-blocks and the adjacent plate 13.

Mounted upon the outer ends of the shafts 6 and 6 are intermeshing gears15 and 15, driven through the mediumof the drive-pulley 16, mounted uponone of the shafts, from any suitable source of power. The gears 15 and15L are preferably of equal diameters in order that thekneading-rollers, which are themselves of equal diameters, may have thesame peripheral velocity, andthe gears and rollers are so arranged thatthe tongues.` 17 of the corrugations of one roller register with thegrooves 18 of the corrugations of the other roller as the rollers arerotated toward each other, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4 of thedrawings. The rollers are preferably of such diameters and so adjustedin position that the tongues of one roller would just clear the tonguesof the other roller if the tongues registered instead of a tongue with agroove. To secure the best results, the corrugations Of the bottom andsides are of less depth. than the corrugations of the rollers. I

To remove the partially-kneaded material from the rollersand toredistribute it and feed it again to the rollers, two screw conveyers 19and 19a are arranged in Isuch proximity to the rollers, preferably abovethe same, that the edges of their flanges 20 and 20 just clear the endsof the tongues upon the adjacent roller. As shown in the drawings, the

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rotated awayfrom each other and oppositely to the adjacent rollersthrough the medium of the gears 22 and 22a, which intermesh with thegears and 15a, respectively, upon the roller-shafts.

To facilitate the'removal of the material after it has been sufficientlytreated, the bottom of the receptacle may be provided with any suitabledoor or doors, such as the outwardly-swinging doors 3, (shown in Fig.4,)

` hinged to the bottom by hinges 23 and provided with suitable lockingmeans, such as the eyes 24 andbolts 25. To afford convenient access tothe rollers and other working parts within the trough, one or both ofthe sides of the receptacle maybe provided with any suitable door, suchas the outwardlyswinging door 26, hinged to the side by a hinge 27. Thereceptacle is preferably provided with a removable top or cover28.

In use the material to be treated is fed to the center of the troughfroln above, so as to fall between the kneadingrollers. The corrugationsof the rollers gather the material from both sides and force it togetherand down through the narrowing space between the rollers into thetriangular space 29 at the bottom and pack and compress it down thereinuntil the space is full. At this stage the process changes. Thecorrugated moving bodies now work against a corrugated iixed body,whereby the material is not only compressed, but is dragged, torn, andstretched into a stringy mass and thoroughly aerated. The material isthen carried around with the rollers Vuntil` it reaches the screwconveyers. These are so geared as to have, preferably, the sameperipheral velocity as the rollers. As they rotate they cut or scrapethe dough or other material from the rollers and carryit to the ends ofthe trough. As the conveyers turn in opposite directions, as indicatedby the arrows in Fig. 4 and by the arrows upon the iianges in Fig. .1,the material scraped from one of the kneading-rollers will be carriedtoward one end of the trough and the material scraped from the otherroller toward the opposite end of the trough, so that the material iskept moving circularly around the trough. At the ends where itaccumulates and along the conveyers wherever they become overloaded thematerial is again fed to the kneading-rollers and is subjected a secondtime to the process of kneading, mixing, pulling, and tearing abovedescribed. The material may thus be subjected to the process anindefinite number of times, the operation being, indeed, continuous, sothat the material is being constantly and successively acted upon forany desired length of time in all the variety of ways necessary for theproper amalgamation of the materials and aeration of the mass.

It is obvious that the details of the device maybe modified in Variousways without departing from the principle of the invention, the scope ofwhich is defined in the claims.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosec ure by Letters Patent, is f 1. A kneading and mixing machine,comprising a pair of oppositely-working rollers disposed for kneadingcoperation with each other, and means for scraping the kneaded materialfrom the rollers and feeding it again to them near their place ofkneading coperation.

2. A kneading and mixing machine, comprising a trough having acorrugated bottom, and a pair of oppositely-working kneadingrollersrotatably mounted therein and disposed for coperation with thecorrugated bottom.

3. A kneading and mixing machine, comprising a trough having acorrugated bottom,

and a pair ol" oppositely-Working corrugated kneading-rollers rotatablymounted therein and disposed for kneading coperation with each other andwith the bottom.

4. In a mixing and kneading machine, the combination,with a trough,ofaplurality of oppositely-rotating corrugated bodies disposed for kneadingcoperation with each other whereby the material to be worked iscompressed between them,and a stationary corrugated body arranged inproximity to the rotating bodies whereby the material is dragged by therotating bodies over the corrugations of the stationary body for thepurpose set forth.

5. A kneading and mixing machine comprising a trough formed withcorrugations upon the inside, a pair of kneading-rollers adapted tocompress between them the material to be kneaded and to carry it aroundwith them in their rotation, and means for scraping the compressedmaterial from said rollers and distributing it again to them near theirplace of kneading coperation. y

6. A kneading and mixing machine, com

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prising a trough having corrugated bottom and sides, and a pair ofoppositely-working corrugated rollers rotatably mounted therein, thecorrugations upon the bottom and sides cooperating with thecorrugations' upon the rollers, and a pair of screw conveyers arrangedadjacent to the rollers and adapted to scrape the kneaded material fromtherollers v IIO 8. A kneading and mixing machine, comprising a troughhaving a generally U -shaped corrugated bottom, and a pair ofoppositelyworking corrugated kneading-rollers rotatably mounted therein,said rollers being arranged relativelyto each other so as to carry thematerial t0 be worked to the middle portion of the trough-bottom, andbeing so ai-V ranged relatively to the curved portion of the trough-bottom as to drag the material accumulated at the middle portion overthe corrugations of the curved portion, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

9. A kneading and mixing machine, comprising a trough having corrugatedbottom and sides, `a pair of` kneading-rollers disposed for cooperationwith each other and with the corrugated bottom and sides, said rollersbeing rotatably Amounted in sliding bearings whereby they may beadjusted in position relatively to one another.

l1. A kneading and mixing machine, com-j prising a trough havingcorrugations upon `theinside, a pair of oppositely-working rollersmounted therein and disposed for kneading cooperation with each otherand with the corrugationsof the trough, and means for scraping thecompressed material from the rollers.

12. A kneading and mixing machine, comprising a U-shaped trough, a pairof. oppositely Working kneading rollers mounted therein and disposed forkneading coperation with each other and with the corner portions vof thetrough, and scraping means for removing the kneaded material from therollers and feeding it again to them for further treatment. v

13. A kneading and mixing machine, Icomprisinga trough having agenerallyU-shaped bottom, the trough-bottom being corrugated at the corners, anda pair of oppositely-working kneading rollers rotatably mounted therein,the rollers being arranged relatively to each other so as to carry thematerial to be `kneaded to the middle portion of the trough-bottom, andbeing so arranged relatively to the corrugated corner portions of thetrough-bottom as to compress and drag the material accumulated in themiddle portions over the corrugations of the corner portions, for thepurpose described.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature y in presence of two Witnesses.4 CHARLES CRISTADORO.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR P. LorHRoP, EMILY F. OTIS.

